He Yiyang was silent. He steadied his fierce heartbeat and sat back in his chair with a cool expression, as calm as could be.
“Let’s not talk about how high my aesthetics of the opposite sex is. Even if you say it, no one will believe it. After all, I don’t care about school flowers.”
Qin Tian lowered his voice, “Then you let her come to the student union office for a nap every day?”
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He Yiyang’s eyes sharpened, emphasising, “She’s here for tutoring.”
Qin Tian glanced at Ruan Mengmeng, who was still sleeping, and snickered, “Maybe that is the case. Cats and dogs are similar to girlfriends sometimes. They both need to be pampered and coaxed, and their hair needs to be smooth, huh?”
“But He Yiyang,” Qin Tian’s tone changed and he said solemnly, “you’re not real siblings after all, and at sixteen or seventeen, it’s easy to go off the rails just because of an unexplained atmosphere.”
He ripped open the ketchup packet and poured it unhurriedly over the fried chicken pieces.
“As a buddy, a word of advice. If you genuinely think of her as a sister, you should think of her reputation; you can’t stop the gossip on school forum posts just by deleting them. If your heart is really as you just said, it’s just a tune up under high pressure. Make adjustments, raise cats, dogs and ET! Why do you need to take the extra step to clear the rumours?”
He Yiyang: “No need for you to tell me what to do. I have my own plans.”
He was, by nature, a very rational person, as evidenced by his flat, ripple-free voice.
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“Also, I don’t need so-called boring buddies.”
Qin Tian’s hand trembled, and the packet of ketchup was squeezed onto the back of his hand with a screeching sound. Out of the corner of his eyes, the girl on the sofa’s eyelashes fluttered ……
*
“Mengmeng, good morning!”
Lu Zhengyuan turned across the intersection and saw Ruan Mengmeng in front of the training institution. He greeted her happily.
“Good morning, Zhengyuan. Have you eaten yet?” Ruan Mengmeng asked with a smile.
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The temperature had turned cooler and the wind was cold and strong on a late autumn morning. Ruan Mengmeng’s draped hair blew across her face, and the ends of her hair were caught in her open mouth as she spoke.
Lu Zhengyuan smiled gently and leaned over to brush it away for her. The warm skin that his fingertips touched was delicate and lubricated.
“No, I didn’t get up in the morning. I practised late yesterday. The seniors in year two are not vegetarians.”
Hearing him say that, Ruan Mengmeng opened her school bag and took out a packet of biscuits and dried pork, “Here, pad your stomach. What time does the basketball game start?”
“10:30,” Lu Zhengyuan tore open the dried pork, “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. You have always treated me before!” Ruan Mengmeng smiled and took out her English book to sit on the chair. “It’s a pity I have to make up for maths later, otherwise I would have been there to cheer you on.”
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Lu Zhengyuan sat next to Ruan Mengmeng, his face a bit overwhelmingly smug. “Mengmeng, the captain of the varsity basketball team found me after the last game. He said he wanted me to join the varsity team and represent the school in a friendly college basketball tournament.”
“Really? That’s great; you hit a lot of three-pointers and score a lot of points,” Ruan Mengmeng was happy for Lu Zhengyuan. “Who’s the captain of the varsity team? He has an eye!”
“Hahahaha ……”
Lu Zhengyuan was a little embarrassed again at this point, “It’s senior Qin Tian. He said I was the starting team member, and that I might be the ace of this tournament. He thinks so highly of me, I’m a little flattered.”
“Oops, what’s the surprise? You have the strength!” Ruan Mengmeng vigorously praised. She did not know what to think. The curved corners of her mouth raised, “I always feel that you have become so excellent all of a sudden, I am still so stupid, so fat.”
“Who said that? Mengmeng is so good!” Lu Zhengyuan hurriedly comforted, “I actually overdid it with my summer diet, and my intestines and stomach were damaged. Did Mengmeng listen to bad words? You can just ignore them; they are all jealous of you.”
Ruan Mengmeng smiled bitterly as she took out her books. “Zhengyuan, you’re so good at talking. Who would be jealous of me? It’s not like I’m pretty and I’m a school dud. I actually want to work on my grades, but it’s just that the bar… It seems like my IQ can’t keep up.”
She stiffly pulled the corners of her mouth, wanting to smile, but the smile did not reach the bottom of her eyes. She turned the bottom page of the book and began to memorise the words.
Lu Zhengyuan felt that Ruan Mengmeng was a bit different today and asked, “Mengmeng, is something wrong?”
Ruan Mengmeng froze for a second, her panicked gaze flickering. Her soft, curly eyelashes fluttered shut like the wings of a startled butterfly.
Lu Zhengyuan wanted to see what was really going on. His gaze was always focused on her eyes.
Ruan Mengmeng was not someone who felt sorry for herself in his heart.
She was a girl who could genuinely say that her father gave her the blessing of a fleshy body and insisted on being at the same table with his former fatty self without fear of people’s words. She was optimistic, kind, transparent, and opinionated.
Her beauty was like a shimmering pearl; not as dazzling as a diamond and not as vague as a zircon.
“It’s nothing,” Ruan Mengmeng smiled, not wanting to say more. She pushed her English book over, “Let’s practise a conversation?”
“Mengmeng ……” Lu Zhengyuan hesitated. Seeing her evasion-like lowering of her head, he could not bear to pursue the question, “Okay.”
The lesson teacher taught a large class. It was a class of ten people. There was one hour of lecture and half an hour of questions and answers, so the efficiency was not bad.
Lu Zhengyuan looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It was only ten minutes before class was over. There were three people in line before Ruan Mengmeng. It was estimated that the monthly exam would soon be held. Everyone asked in a hurry, and when it was her turn, the teacher estimated that he had to leave.
This was the case with the lesson teacher. He was very accurate.
He walked over to Ruan Mengmeng and said, “Show me?”
“Eh?” Ruan Mengmeng looked up and smiled, “You haven’t left yet, huh? Then talk to me about it.”
Lu Zhengyuan pointed at the question, “This question is choice C, right?”
“Right!” Ruan Mengmeng’s eyes lit up, “Why?”
Lu Zhengyuan smiled, “Do you know the meaning of this sentence? The test centre is the application of the negative form of the predicate verb…”
“Ah, I get it. What about this question? ”
“This question is tested on…”
Lu Zhengyuan quietly led Ruan Mengmeng to the side of the classroom while explaining the lesson. Outside the window was a small flower bed. The pink moonflowers were delicate and fragrant amidst the green leaves and bushes.
Ruan Mengmeng happened to be wearing a pink knitted sweater today, complete with a white blouse with a frilly baby collar and a light grey pleated skirt.
She stood beside him with a pencil in her hand, gazing at him in thought.
Lu Zhengyuan stood straight. He held the book in a steady hand, and his soft eyes fell on the top of Ruan Mengmeng’s head.
At this moment, he was immensely glad that he had enrolled in a tutorial class and was able to stand quietly with her discussing the topic, also finding the time a little sweet.
“I got them all right this time,” Ruan Mengmeng was so happy that she pressed the little yellow chicken on the water-based pen. “Zhengyuan, you talked about the same knowledge as the topic analysis,” she took the problem set book back from Lu Zhengyuan, “but I just read it but didn’t understand it. You know it a little bit. Hahaha, I really have a long brain circuit.”
Lu Zhengyuan stroked her hair and said in a doting tone, “It’s okay to take your time. There are not many knowledge points in a book. Once you have a good grasp of it, you won’t be afraid to change the topics.”
“Then I’ll take my time to remember. Eh, where is everyone? “
Lu Zhengyuan packed his book bag and said, “They’ve all left! You should go to maths class.”
“I’m not going,” Ruan Mengmeng said, holding her English book. “The teacher posted the content of today’s maths class in the group yesterday, and I think it’s okay. I can eat through it. Why don’t I go watch you compete?”
“That’s even better yet. Let’s go!” Lu Zhengyuan didn’t expect there to be a surprise, “If there are topics you don’t know, you can find me.”
Ruan Mengmeng packed up and followed behind, smiling and joking, “Yes, yes, you are the top student and we are the school dregs worshipping the big brother.”
“There are still better classes,” Lu Zhengyuan was excited, “but I believe I can get in next semester.”
“Yo! That’s impressive!” Ruan Mengmeng said, “I want to hug a big thigh when the time comes.”
“Feel free to hug it. I can give you a hug anywhere,” Lu Zhengyuan inclined his head, feeling that now his words could catch up to her, now he could confess. His expression became serious, “Mengmeng I..”
“Wait!” Ruan Mengmeng interrupted him and suddenly stopped.
Lu Zhengyuan:”… en?”
Only to see her small nose slightly wrinkled and her almond eyes shining brightly as she looked around.
She was so happy: “Zhengyuan, Fleuron’s cake shop is open. Yeah, no wonder it smells so good! Let’s go buy some. Wow, this rich creamy smell …… I can’t stand it.”
Lu Zhengyuan was dragged into the cake shop, once again defeated by Ruan Mengmeng’s thick nerves.
When she walked into the basketball arena, the noise greeted her, and the stands were packed. Ruan Mengmeng was so shocked by the show that she almost dropped the milk tea in her hand and said in shock, “Why are all these people here?”
“Oh,” Lu Zhengyuan said as he twirled his arms and did some preparatory exercises, “The first game in the morning was the senior two match, the science class versus the first class. In the past, it was always the boys from the science class who competed, but this year is different. It just happened to have two schoolmasters who are also academic male gods. They are also good at basketball, so how can such a gimmicky thing not attract female spectators.”
Ruan Mengmeng swept the stands, and indeed, there were all girls with flushed faces and wolfish eyes.
These days, girls were also fierce, especially for quality guys. Even if they couldn’t chase them, looking at them was still very enjoyable.
When she looked at the lounge area, Qin Tian was there… sitting on a bench!
How come he was also here? Ruan Mengmeng was so shocked that her heart jumped and she subconsciously turned around to leave.
The last time she overheard what He Yiyang said, she was honestly a bit upset. No, she was very upset!
She was so upset that she couldn’t sleep at night, and the next day she had very heavy dark circles under her eyes. She didn’t have any energy in class during the day. She spent several days resting on her desk in the classroom at lunch.
He Yiyang didn’t look for her either, so Ruan Mengmeng felt even worse. She sent a WeChat message to tell him that she didn’t need to go with him for self-study. Instead, she would go home with her classmates, and He Yiyang simply replied, “Oh.”
Obviously….. She had told He Yiyang before that there were no students on the way.
“Where are you going? It’s about to start.” Lu Zhengyuan asked as he took Ruan Mengmeng’s hand.
“Ah, I… am going to the kiosk to buy some drinks.”
Ruan Mengmeng looked at the door. Her eyes uncontrollably glanced at the rest area again and actually met He Yiyang’s gaze!
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom……
Ruan Mengmeng broke away from Lu Zhengyuan’s hand and darted away.
“Eh Mengmeng!” Lu Zhengyuan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, shaking his head, “Running like a frightened rabbit, what’s the hurry?”
In the rest area, Qin Tian threw a towel at He Yiyang, which he knocked off the floor.
Qin Tian glared, “Boss, it’s brand new, okay?”
He Yiyang didn’t say anything. His dark eyes fell on the front door of the basketball gym, and his face was grim.
Qin Tian saw this and pulled the corners of his mouth shut, drinking his own water without bothering with him.